Door operating mechanism



March 2 1936- G. E. STRANDT DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Filed July 13, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR wmww ATTOR N EYS G. E. STRANDT DOOR OPERATING MECHANI SM March 24, 1936.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m 5% 31% mwm ATTORNEYS I INVENTOR Filed July 15, 1954 Patented Mar. 24, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Gustav E. Strandt, Milwaukee, Wis.

Application July 13, 1934, Serial No. 734,907

8 Claims. (01. 268-62) My invention relates to improvements in door operating mechanism, this application being a continuation in part of my former application, Serial Number 510,407, filed January 22, 1931.

This application is substituted for said former application for the purpose of more complete disclosure and for the purpose of incorporating additional improvements.

My objects are to provide mechanism adapted to be secured to the lintel or upper member of a door frame for interconnecting swinging double doors in such a manner that the movement of either one will be communicated to the other to positively open or close both doors simultaneously and to a substantially equal degree; to provide mechanism in which the doors may be securely held in various open positions subject to manual controlling means associated with one of the doors; to provide locking mechanismassociated with one of the doors and operable from the vicinity of a door knob or a handle to release the door for swinging movement preparatory to closing the same; to provide said mechanism with adjustable means for predetermining the full open position of the doors and securely holding them against wind pressures; to provide door operating mechanism which will not materially obstruct the doorway or materially lower the head room, i. e., the dimensions of the space between the lintel and the doorsill and in the installation and use of which the door frame will not be encumbered with projecting parts tending to catch upon moving objects passing through the doorway or along either the inner or outer sides of a wall provided with such doorway.

In general, it is my object to provide improved door operating mechanism which can be readily installed in such a manner that it will not interfere with any proper operation of the doors or with the use of the doorway opening or of either the interior or exterior space within or adjacent to the building to which the doors afford means of access.

In the drawings:

4 Figure l is a plan view of a door operating mechanism embodying my invention, with the lintel of the door frame removed.

Figure 2 is a view of one of the pulley crank wheels and its associated supporting bracket as 50 viewed from the under side, a fragment of the crank arm being also illustrated.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view, in perspective, showing the upper portion of the controlling door with parts of my improved mechanism installed 5 thereon.

Figure 4 is a vertical, sectional view of the upper portion of a door frame showing in elevation my improved mechanism and portions of a set of double doors.

Figure 5 is a plan View similar to Fig. 1 but showing a modified form of construction.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary, perspective view of one of the slotted trackways with operating crank and locking mechanism as used in connection with the form of construction shown in Fig. 5.

Figure 7 is a detail view, partly in section and partly in elevation, showing one of the pulleycrank wheels and its associated adjusting mechanism for properly positioning the crank arm and door.

Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

My improved mechanism is so organized that it can be readily attached to the lintel l0 of the door frame (Fig. 4) by means of brackets l I and 20 bolts or screws I2. If desired, these brackets may be provided with flanges l3 to be secured to the side bars of the door frame by bolts or screws I 4. Each of the brackets l I has journalled therein a wheel l5 having a peripheral groove to receive 25 a cable 16 and also having secured to its under surface a crank arm I! for operating an associated door, or to be operated thereby, as hereinafter described. The wheel l5 may, therefore, be aptly termed a pulley-crank wheel. 30

Inasmuch as the pulley-crank wheel occupies a plane parallel with the lintel l0 from which it is supported by the bracket II, it may be brought into close proximity to the lintel and interposed between the lintel and the crank arm I1. 35 The crank arm I! is preferably intermediately bent or partially elbowed at 20, and its outer end is provided with laterally projecting axles 2| which support trolley wheels 22, one on each side of the crank arm and adapted to travel in 40 slotted tubular trackways 24 extending horizontally along the inner face of the associated door 25 near its upper margin. The crank arm H extends through the slot in trackway 24 as best illustrated in Fig. 3.

To secure a doorin various open positions, I prefer to employ a bracket 21 having pivoted thereto a rocking locking bar 28 provided with upwardly extending teeth 29. The locking bar 28 is normally held in looking position by a spring 30 which is coiled about the pivot shaft 3| with one end engaging the arm and the other end engaging the bracket 21. The free end of the arm is obliquely faced at 33 to allow a projection 35 on the under surface of the crank arm H to ride upon this face and temporarily depress the locking bar while the door is being swung to an open position. The projection 35 preferably comprises a longitudinally extending piece of angle iron having one flange secured to the crank arm and the other flange depending for engagement with the teeth 29 of the locking arm 28. The locking arm 28 is fixed on the pivot shaft 3|, and the latter is extended along the upper bar of the door frame underneath the trackway 24 and through a supporting bracket 36 near the swinging margin of the door.

This portion of the pivot shaft 3| is provided with a bell crank 31, to one arm of which a depending chain 38 is secured, whereby a downward pull upon the chain will oscillate the pivot shaft 31 and swing the locking arm 28 downwardly to release it from engagement with the projection 35 on the crank arm. The other arm of the bell crank 31 normally bears against the door and serves as a stop to limit the upward movement of the locking bar 28 as urged by the spring 30. Preferably the lower end of the chain 38 is secured to a lever 40 pivoted at M to the outer rail or bar of the door at a convenient level for manual operation, preferably the pivot of handle 42.

The motion of the crank arm I! is derived from the door 25 and this motion is transmitted to the associated door 25 by means of a crossed cable is which extends about the crank pulleys l5 and 15'. The crank pulley I 5, its crank arm [1, and door supported trackway 24 correspond in structure with the door operated pulley-crank wheel l5 and associated parts, but the locking mechanism associated with the door 25 may be omitted from the door 25' inasmuch as the pulley-crank wheel I5 is a door operating crank wheel, the position of which is dependent upon the door operated crank wheel [5. The locking mechanism may be associated with either door, but I prefer to associate it with the operating door, i. e., the door which, when manually opened or closed, transmits its motion to the other door.

A turnbuckle 46 is employed to regulate the tension of the cable.

Referring to Figs. 5, 6, and 7, it will be observed that the brackets I la are secured to the lintel and to the upper ends of the side bars of the door frame in a manner similar to that described with reference to the structure shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive.

But in the modified form of construction, the bracket Ha. is provided with a slideway 5! which houses a slide 52 which serves as a mounting for the pulley-crank shaft 53, upon which the crankpulleys [5a and l5a' are journalled. The crank arms Ha and Ila are secured to these pulleycrank wheels, but in place of the intermediate bend at 20, as shown in the preferred form of construction, these crank arms Ha and Ila are adjustable at different distances from the hinge axis of the associated door by means of the slide 52, the housing 5| being slotted to permit the shaft 53 to move longitudinally of the housing when slide 52 is adjusted to a new position within the housing. To facilitate such adjustment, the bracket Ila is provided with depending portion 55, through which an adjusting screw 56 is passed. This screw has swivelled connection with the slide 52' at 51 and the screw may be held in its adjustable position by suitable locknuts at opposite sides of the bracket arm 55 as illustrated.

By varying the position of the slide 52, the

oblique position of the crank arm with reference to the associated door may be varied, thereby not only altering the bracing effect of the crank arm upon the door, but also varying the degree to which the door may be opened. If desired, a spring 58 may connect the depending portion l3a of the bracket i la with the associated crank arm and this spring will tend to assist in holding the door in either the closed or the open position, the spring being so placed that when the door is swung from one position to another, the spring will move across the axis of the pivot shaft 53.

In both forms of construction the crank arm is preferably secured to the crank wheel at a plurality of points at one side of the axis of the shaft 53, and the inner portion of the pulleycrank wheel therefore serves as a portion of the crank itself, the use of a peripheral pulley rim being merely incidental to the use of cables to transmit motion from one door to the other. As shown in Fig. 5, this motion transmission may be accomplished by cables I (la and Him, the ends of which are connected by crossed bars 6!) and M which extend at the crossing point through a suitable guide 62 Which may be attached to the under surface of the lintel by screws passing through holes 63 and the guide. A turnbuckle 46a permits a proper tensioning of the cables when slide 52 is adjusted.

Referring to Fig. 6, it will be observed that in place of the swinging locking bar 28 shown in Figs. 1 and 3, I may employ a longitudinally movable locking bar 28a connected with the axle shaft Zia. within the tubular trackway 24a carried by the controlling door 25a. The vertically disposed rock shaft 62 provided at its lower end with a handle 63 has its upper end mounted in the trackway and provided with a locking dog 65 normally urged into engagement with the teeth of the locking bar 28a by a coiled spring 66. The locking dog 65 may be manually adjusted to a position of release by operating the handle 63 to withdraw it from the teeth of the locking bar It will be understood that the use of pulleycrank wheels in both forms of construction are incidental to a preferred use of cables as portions of the means for transmitting motion from one door to the other, and any suitable means for transmitting such motion from one door or one crank to the other would be equivalent. My invention is not predicated for novelty upon the character of these motion transmitting connections.

It Will be observed that all of the movable parts of my door operating mechanism are normally housed within the door frame in close proximity to the lintel, and the movements of these parts are in planes parallel with the lintel. The looking mechanism is mounted upon one of the doors and as the locking arm shown in Figs. 1 and 3 projects from the inner face of the door near its upper margin, it is also normally housed Within the door frame.

When the door is open it projects directly underneath one of the crank arms and forms no obstruction which might catch upon objects moving through the door, and when the doors are closed it will not be in a position to catch upon any objects moving parallel with either the inner or the outer face of the building wall. In the structure shown in Fig. 6, the toothed looking bar is partially housed in one of the trackways and it is parallel with the door. its movement being longitudinally along the trackway axis.

I claim:

1. The combination with a door frame having a set of outwardly swinging doors, of a set of cranks supported from the lintel within the door frame for swinging movement in a horizontal plane, means for adjusting the axes of the cranks with reference to the axes of the associated doors, connections independent of said adjusting means for transmitting movement of one crank to swing the other in an opposite direction, and connections between the outer ends of the cranks and the upper portions of the respective doors, said connections being adapted to allow a shifting movement of the extremity of each crank along the inner face of the associated door, said cranks being pivotally connected with slides adjustable along the under side of the lintel in association with locking means for holding them in their respective positions of adjustment.

2. The combination with a door frame having a set of swinging doors hinged to the sides thereof, of a set of brackets secured to the lintel of said frame and provided with depending pivot studs, a set of pulley-crank wheels journalled on the pivot studs, each pulley-crank wheel being provided with a crank loosely connected with the inner face of one of the doors, said connection being adapted to allow for a shifting movement of the crank horizontally along the inner face of the door near its upper margin while the door is being swung, connections requiring the cranks to swing simultaneously in opposite directions, and means for adjusting the pulley-crank wheels and shafts at varying distances from the sides of the door frame to vary the bracing relation of the cranks to their associated doors and the degree of door opening movement permitted by the cranks.

3. In a door operating mechanism, the combination with a crank arm pivotally supported within the door frame underneath and adjacent to the lintel and a slide adjustably mounted on the lintel and to which the crank arm is pivoted, of a horizontal guide carried by the door and with which the swinging end of the crank arm is engaged for movement along the guide when the door is being swung, means for adjusting the slide to vary the distance between such pivot and the door hinge, means for securing the slide in its adjusted position and means for locking the crank arm with the door in a predetermined open position.

4. In a door operating mechanism, the combination with a door frame having a door hinged thereto, of a crank arm pivotally supported within the door frame and normally extending horizontally underneath and adjacent to the lintel, a guide extending horizontally along the inner surface of the door near its upper margin and with which the end of the crank arm is engaged for longitudinal movement along the guide, a locking slide connected with the crank arm and also movable along the guideway, and a manually adjustable locking dog supported from the guideway and adapted to engage said slide to lock the same against movement.

5. In a door operating mechanism, the combination with a door frame having a door hinged thereto, of a crank arm pivotally supported within the door frame and normally extending horizontally underneath and adjacent to the lintel, a guide extending horizontally along the inner surface of the door near its upper margin and with which the end of the crank arm is engaged for longitudinal movement along the guide, a locking slide connected with the crank arm and also movable along the guideway, and a manually adjustable locking dog supported from the guideway and adapted to engage said slide to lock the same against movement, said locking dog having resilient means for automatically urging it to locking position and a distant operating handle for moving it to releasing position.

6. In a door operating mechanism, the combination with a pivoted operating arm, of a guideway carried by the door and with which the end of the arm is slidably engaged, a notched slide connected with said end and movable along the guideway, and a pawl mounted on the guideway and movable by said slide to permit movement thereof in one direction, said pawl being selectively engageable with a notch of said slide to prevent the return of said door and arm from predetermined relative positions.

7. A door operating mechanism including the combination of a set of pulleys and pulley supporting brackets mountable within a door frame underneath and parallel with the lintel, a cable for transmitting motion from one pulley to the other, a slide supporting one of said pulleys and provided with an adjusting screw, cranks connected with the pulleys for swinging movement in a horizontal plane and provided with means for operative sliding engagement with an associated door, means associated with one of the doors for locking the associated crank, and lock releasing mechanism including a horizontally disposed rock shaft and means for connecting it with a door handle, said door operating mechanism being adapted to be wholly housed within the door frame and made universally applicable to substantially all doorways having double swinging doors, regardless of exterior and interior conditions.

8. In a door operating mechanism, the combination with a door frame having a door hinged thereto, of a crank arm pivotally supported within the door frame and normally extending horizontally underneath and adjacent to the lintel, a channeled guide extending horizontally along the inner surface of the door near its upper margin, a set of rollers engaged in said guide and supported by the crank arm, a notched slide member connected with the crank arm and movable along the guide, and a vertically disposed rock shaft having a slide engaging locking dog secured to its upper end portion and an operating handle on its lower end portion, and resilient means for normally engaging the dog in the slide notches.

GUSTAV E. STRANDT. 

